Perata recovering from prostate cancer

Published 4:00 am, Monday, August 31, 2009

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

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Don Perata reflects on his political career Thursday Nov 20, 2008. The former high school government teacher from Alameda, who rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the state, will be stepping down as the leader of the California State Senate next week due to term limits. less

Don Perata reflects on his political career Thursday Nov 20, 2008. The former high school government teacher from Alameda, who rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the state, will be stepping ... more

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Perata recovering from prostate cancer

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Former state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who wants to be Oakland's next mayor, has been quietly undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

"Like a lot of people over 50, I had a PSA test, and it found a tumor in the early stages, so we dealt with it," Perata said.

Perata got the diagnosis in May - about two weeks after the FBI finally cleared him in a 5-year corruption investigation.

"Trust me, the FBI was a lot tougher to handle with than this. At least with cancer I knew what I was dealing with," Perata said.

Whatever the case, Perata said treatment ended this week and the prognosis is good. So he's back up and running for mayor.

Powder keg: It was the fear of an imminent gang war that prompted Oakland police and fire officials last week to hastily condemn the rat-infested Amber Tree Gardens apartment complex and evict some 200 tenants.

It all began a week earlier when police Sgt. Fred Mestas, who covers the area, noticed that the block of Fruitvale Avenue adjacent to the complex was covered with South Side Locos' gang graffiti.

Mestas found that the South Side Locos had taken over about a half-dozen apartments in the dilapidated complex at 2555 Foothill Blvd.

"They punched holes through the walls big enough for them to run through in case anything went down and they had to make a fast escape," Mestas said.

Adding to the tension, the complex sits in the middle of territory held by the Norteños - rivals of the South Side Locos.

When Mestas came back the next day and saw that the Locos' tags had been sprayed over by the Norteños, he knew it wouldn't be long before the shooting started.

"It was like a powder keg ready to go off," he said.

That was about the same time that the Fire Department was called to a small mattress fire at the site, where officials found exposed electric wiring and other fire hazards. There were no sprinkler systems or extinguishers.

Fire marshals and about 15 cops showed on Tuesday and declared it uninhabitable. The residents had to immediately leave their homes.

"One officer was stopped by a 4-year-old who grabbed his leg as he was about to go into one of the apartments," Mestas said. "The kid told him, 'You don't want to go in there. The rats are really, really big.' "

According to city officials, the complex had basically been a squatters' encampment for the past year - most were illegal immigrants. The owner had declared bankruptcy and the bank so far has refused to take over responsibility for the complex, which also had no running water.

In addition to sharing one of the biggest names in East Bay politics (Bill is a former state senator and attorney general), Nadia Lockyer is also the executive director of the Alameda County Family Justice Center, a project of the district attorney's office that provides a one-stop shop for domestic violence victims.

Insiders note that Nadia, an Orange County native, has amassed the biggest war chest in the race so far - about $70,000, much of it raised outside the county.

Mrs. Lockyer comes armed with a rather big gun: her husband's $10 million campaign account, one of the largest in California. Under state law, her husband can transfer cash to her if needed.

Tender trap: We have two words for new Police Chief George Gascón's interest in cleaning up San Francisco's Tenderloin: Good luck.

The Tenderloin is a de facto social service ghetto with soup kitchens, halfway houses and self-help centers operated by some of the biggest and most politically powerful nonprofits in the city.

It's a fact Mayor Gavin Newsomknows very well. The mayor used to regularly jog though the Tenderloin and often complained to Police Officers Association President Gary Delagnes about the open-air drug dealing.

"Mr. Mayor, you could put a cop on every corner," Delagnes would tell him, "and they would still be dealing down there."